think of as the part where paul brown's constituents write in charles darwin for him, is the lemon twist. the improved whiskey cocktail. sometimes even really good things can get better. that does it for us tonight. we will see you again monday night. now it's time "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. have a great weekend. i'm going to spend it with this. and so the second term cabinet changes have begun. the hard way. and the president has an easy way of raising taxes on the rich if republicans play tough. we are only 53 days away from going off the fiscal cliff. which is really just a fiscal curb. >> we have breaking news regarding general david pa tras. >> the head of the cia saying

that he is resigning. >> a man greatly admired. >> bad news doesn't get any better with age. >> this is certainly a bombshell. >> the inevitable cabinet shuffle comes at a crucial time. >> a very big day in washington. >> the american people voted for action, not politics as usual. >> the president will layout his view of the economy going forward. >> president obama seats his sights on avoiding the fiscal cliff. >> we can't just cut our way to prosperity. >> i refuse to accept any approach that isn't balanced. >> mr. president, this is your moment. >> if coop fails, everybody's taxes will automatically go up on january 1. >> all the leverage is shifted to obama. >> the president does have a lot of the carts. >> the elections have consequences. >> elections have consequences. >> the people have spoken. >> who have the returns incumbents. >> i'm open to compromise. >> we're willing to accept new

revenue under the right conditions vernts hopefully having received the message. the pressure on the republican caucus will be overwhelming. >> a post election gop freak-out. >> we're seeing more of the republican blame game. >> at a political party, we've got some work to do. >> the elections very consequences. >> the american people voted for action. not politics as usual. >> will he find enough allies on capitol hill to do it? >> four star general david petraeus stepped down today. he wrote, after being married for over 37 years, i showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extra mattertive affair. such behavior is unacceptable as the husband and as the leader of an organization such as hours. this afternoon the president

graciously accepted my resignation. general petraeus told the president of his decision yesterday and the president accepted it by phone today. in a statement this afternoon, president obama said, david petraeus has provided extraordinary service to the united states for decades, as director of the cia, he has continued to serve with characteristic intellectual rigor, dedication, and patriotism. he has made our country safer and stronger. president obama also expressed confidence in acting director mike morel to lead the cia. joining me now jean robinson and sam stein. gene, this will open up a public hearing, which will be the confirmation hearing of the next

cia director which presumely the republicans will make libya issue one. general petraeus was going to have to testify at a closed door hearing about exactly that next week. but it looks like we'll definitely be eventually having a public hearing through the confirmation process about it. >> right. i'm sure there will be a public hearing and i'm willing to bit bet right now that the first question from the republican side will contain the word benghazi. look, it's done clear to me whether there's any big second reet or scandal on earth, but there should be a nonpartisan investigation of what happened and clearly something went wrong. so we should find out what went wrong. but it's ironic that of course the petraeus resignation is totally unrelated to that. certainly as far as we know and i think as far as we will find out. >> sam stein, the resignation is

effective immediately. and obviously now that the media is aware of an affair, i think we can expect more digging on that. more information to come out. piece by piece as time goes by. what do you anticipate coming out -- it's hard to say at this stage, i'm sure. but i'm sure we haven't heard the last about that element of the story. >> well, you know, there's so much intrigue obviously with the nation's top spy. you know in the access to the e-mails that the fbi investigation. clearly will be questions and probably an investigation into whether our intelligence community was compromised by this. all indications are that it wasn't. but gene is right this also comes in a political contest which is the growing intensity of the growing investigations into what happened with respect to benghazi. there's so many balls in the air here. it's an awkward time for the cia

to have this happen. there's never a nonawkward time but this is a particularly awkward time and for the ard mrgs as well which that's to shuffle the stop staff at the same time they're expected to asking questions from congress. i expect multiple story lines. >> i want to sam rise. law enforcement officials tell nbc news that the fbi is investigating the general's bog fer paula broadwell for improperly trying to access general petraeus's e-mail and potentially accessing classified information. the officials say they do not believe this will result in any criminal charges. they also stressed that general petraeus is not under investigation. paula broadwell is of course the author of general petraeus's biography which she entitled

"all in." let's take a look at paula broadwell discussing her book and how she got access to the general on "the daily show". >> you're a runner and to get to know him, he wanted to run with you. so you ran together. >> this is a typical mechanism he uses to get to know young people. he's done it throughout his life. so it was an opportunity for me to interview him on a run and i think it was -- i thought i would test him but he was going to test me and it ended up being a test for both of us since we both ran pretty quickly. but that was the foundation of our relationship. >> gene robinson, obviously there's going to be an intense focus on paula broadwell. she's under investigation for trying to access general petraeus's e-mail. >> combrae. and so, look. what we have here are some dots that we cannot and will not try to connect at this point we really don't know the details of what went on or didn't go on.

what we can assume, i think, is that because petraeus resigned, there is some reason for the resignation. some reason for that. this does not seem to have been, one can speculate it was not a private matter. there must have been something else going on that caused him to do this so abruptly at this moment. but again, you know, the dots are there and we'll have to do some reporting and get some more information before we know exactly whether or how they connect. well, sam, the normal model for this kind of resignation in politics and government is that someone was closing in on david petraeus in the sense that there's some kind of threat that this could not remain a secret. >> sure. >> because obviously the affair already occurred. obviously he was continuing to go to work.

last week and the week before knowing that the affair had occurred. something probably was edging toward a public revelation here. >> yes. i mean, and keep in mind this isn't a politician having an affair. this is the head of the cia. there are elements here more complicated here than just public relations. it is a frowned upon thing to have an affair when you're in the intelligence community because it can be used as leverage. it's also a frowned upon thing to have an affair in the military community because it he sets a poor example for the ranks because also it's just frowned upon. so it's not your average politician having an affair. that might be survivable. there are different complications when it involves someone in the intelligence community, let alone the head of the cia. >> but i don't want to pass over lightly how extraordinary and extraordinarily weird it is that

a biographer would be investigated for trying to compromise the cia director's e-mail. this is an unprecedented possibility as far as we know it in american journalism. >> yeah. so we don't have a precedent. i've never seen anything quite like this, trying to access his e-mail. exactly what does that mean? you know, getting a -- who knows? i have never heard anything like it. you know, you almost hear echos of british phone hacking but it's not that. it's something new. and we'll just have to, you know, more information will come out and we'll learn more about what actually happened. and in some weird way it will make sense. it doesn't make a lot of sense right now. >> can i say something? we shouldn't get lost in the

fact how sad this is for holly petraeus. it's an incredibly devastating moment for her and she's an amazing person. >> paula broadwell explained she wrote how she had access, she said throughout i had numerous interviews and innum rabl e-mail exchanges with petraeus and his inner circle. sam stein, you would think that the military and others in these positions would have learned enough as a result of granting such access to "rolling stone" and other places that that kind of access can be dangerous and possibly dangerous on many levels. >> i think was asked about that in the context of the "rolling stone" article, they brought up the fact that general mccrystal had gone into a career altering

trouble by the fact that he granted such access so they marvelled at her ability to get that close to david petraeus. we don't know how that transpired or what resulted from it. but clearly you would think of the military as a more enclosed environment, a place where journalists tend not to have as much free rein as, let's say, congress. as a journalist myself i don't want to discourage that at the same time i think it's important to encourage reporters to get top access to officials. not all such access results in controversy. >> there's a big difference between receiving a whole bunch of e-mails from general petraeus and hacking into his e-mail. but is it something as dumb as somebody not knowing or not understanding the reply all button or something? i don't know. >> i don't know.

i for one find it hard to believe that it is coincidental that we are learning both of these things on the same day i admire your journalistic restraint under these extreme and difficult circumstances. i suspect that our audience is not being quite so restrained in their willingness to speculate based on what they have seen in this segment and they are welcome to do that. >> it's a tough job. >> you've done it admirably. thank you for joining me tonight. >> thank you. >> thank you. coming up, the president is playing tough on taxes and the fiscal cliff. and john boehner is starting to sound like the weakened opposition leader that he actually is. jonathan capeheart and ezra klein will join me. and the republicans are getting warmer on the reasons why they lost. at least one of them realizes

they had [ bleep ] candidates. that's coming up. and in the rewrite tonight, you will be invited to gloet in the privacy of your own home. and, the last word tonight goes to the person who deserves the last word on the campaign. president barack obama.

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and i just want to point out, this was a central question during the election. it was debated over and over again. and on tuesday night, we found out that the majority of americans agree with my approach. >> the president's resolve on raising the top tax brackets is clear, while republican resistance to that is not the brick wall it once was. >> though everything, everything on the revenue side and on the spending side, has to be looked at. >> when speaker boehner and others have talked about saying that revenue can be on the table, i think that is a sign that the president appreciates, recognizes that we need to compromise here. we need to come together and take a balance a. >> joining me now are ezra klein and jonathan capeheart. ezra, i think we saw a confident president and the opposition

leader in the house of representstives who isn't quite so confident. >> yeah, i found both of these speeches a little bit strange because if you read what they said, it's pretty basic. obama did call for compromise. and then if you watched them, john boehner, speaker boehner looked like a defeated man. it was like saying okay, we are going to come to the table with you. and president obama, despite speaking about compromised, it wasn't a very comprise-y style of speech. it was clear that he knew he had the leverage. he wasn't going to accept anything that didn't end with taxes being part of the final solution here. >> well, jonathan capeheart, boehner knows that the pressure is all on him. the senate has already passed a bill that does what the president wants to do in taxation. it reduces the taxation below the top rates and the house can

either pass that bill or not pass it. and if they don't pass it, what will happen in terms of january 1st ratgoing up is on them. >> it's on them. the president said in his remarks today that you know, his plan's not written in stone. the one he campaigned on. he's willing to hear any good idea from anyone. but it's unclear whether john boehner is going to be able to come to the table with an alternative idea that they can hammer out in time for all these deadlines to expire. and the other reason why john boehner probably looked a little defighted, remember after the elections in 2010, they kept saying the american people have spoken, we need to listen to the people and do what they say, they don't want this or that. now we've come through a presidential election which is arguably much more important than a mid term election where

the president was re-elected after campaigning for months on raising taxes on wealthier individuals and other things he wants to do. the american people have spoken and they've spoken in favor of what the president wants to do. >> and the president has just won john boehner's state. let's listen to the president outlining the way he sees this which is basically hey, let's pass what we all agree on in taxes, which is lower rates for people below the top rates. they all agree on that. this is the way the president put it. >> right now, if congress fails to come to an agreement on an overall deficit reduction package by the end of the year, everybody's taxes will automatically go up on january 1st. everybody's, including the 98% of americans who make less than 250,000 a year. nobody, not republicans, not democrats, want taxes to go up

for folks making under $250,000 a year. so let's not wait. even as we're negotiating a broader deficit reduction package, let's extend the middle class tax cuts right now. let's do that right now. in fact, the senate has already passed a bill doing exactly this. so all we need is action from the house. and i've got the pen ready to sign the bill right away. i'm ready to do it. >> ezra, john boehner is not one of the crazy republicans in the house of representatives. he knows that politically he is on the losing side of that argument that the president just made. >> oh, yeah. if you remember back to the time we did this in 2010, early on boehner was confronted with the question of what do you do if the president will simply veto any extensions of all the tax cuts. and boehner said clearly that

would be very very unfortunate but of course we would extend the middle class cuts. we wond thet them sprier for everyone. there was a huge outcry. and that led to the strategy of doing it all. but this right here is the key piece of the president and the democrat strategy. they know and they know boehner knows and the republicans know that in the end, they can't be seen as letting the taxes go up on everybody to protect the very, very rich. the problem for democrats is they can't be seen as thinking, you know what? if all the taxes go up it's not such a bad outcome for us. it gives us a lot of tax revenue and we can bring it down from there. the key question is who gets out in front in this question of the middle class tax cuts. as you saw from the president right there was defining the entire democratic position on we want to protect the middle class tax cuts and if they expire, we gave republicans a way not to make that happen and they did let it happen in order to

protect taxes on the rich. because if westerns get to frame it as letting it expire as the democrat's false, that reverses the situation much as it was in 2010 when the democrats made the deal to extend everything. >> i made a decision live on the show last night to rename the fiscal cliff on this show the fiscal curb. because it's really just a step off of a curb. if you don't do anything, it becomes a very, very large adjustment in both tax revenue and spending over a long period of type. but over the course of the few weeks that we will have done this before congress fixes it, it will be a minor step off a curb. and it's all fixable retro actively. so jonathan capeheart, there's a tricky thing going on here, where fiscal cliff is being used to make legislators panic but the actual mechanical reality is very little will happen in those first few weeks in january.

people might see some small change in their take-home pay. that's usually enough to get congress focused. >> you need a crisis to get congress to do anything. remember, these are the same folks who took the united states right to the edge of a very real cliff when they didn't -- went to the very last minute to raise the debt ceiling. the same situation is going to happen this time but the deadline for raising the debt ceiling isn't january 1 or december 31. there are things that secretary giet inner can do to extent the ceiling into february i'm told. but you're right. folks keep ginning up the cliff language because as we all know congress doesn't do anything unless there's a lion or a dragon or a fire lit under their behind to get something done. >> i'm torn about it because as

a dramatist, i love cliffs. thank you for joining me tonight. >> coming up. republicans continue to struggle for explanations for why they lost and so far only one of them has it partially figured out. and in the rewrite tonight, if you're one of those people, and i know you're out there, who are disappointed in the lack of gloating by democrats over the election results, i think you're really, really going to enjoy the rewrite. the way we watch tv is what drives us to broadcast the world's biggest events in 3d, or live to your seat high above the atlantic ocean. it's what drives us to create eco-friendly race tracks, batteries that power tomorrow's cars, nearly indestructible laptops, and the sustainable smart towns of the future. at panasonic, we're driven to make what matters most better. just another way we're engineering a better world for you.

coming up. the people who convinced mitt romney he was going to win. they're in tonight's rewrite. and the last word on the presidential campaign, the last word tonight goes to barack obama. that's coming up. ♪

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confused and becoming profane as they search for reasons why they lost the presidential election along with so many senate races and house races. it took them all week to come up with their best reason yet. [ bleep ] candidates. today former mississippi republican governor hailly barber was caught in an impromptu interview. that's when he said, quote, we had some [ bleep ] candidates. we pissed away two seats. barack obama is one of the greatest politicians in american history. you have to admire this political master and his amazing handicraft. he got that right. republicans who don't believe in evolution are beginning to

evolve on one thing. >> romney and ryan were crushed in these demographics. we've got to get rid of the immigration issue all together. it's simple for me to fix it. i think you control the border first. you create a path way for those people that are here. you don't say you got to go home. and that is a position that i've evofld on. because you know what? it's got to be resolved. >> not surprisingly, shaun hannity finds himself sliding into agreement with his boss, the immigrant rupert murdoch who tweeted, election comment republicans have to ignore 5% nativist, embrace hispanics, welcome best asian and european graduates. >> the solution to republican problems with hispanic voters requires but a single policy change. border fence plus amnesty.

yes, amnesty. use the word. shock and awe. full legal normalization, just short of citizenship, in return for full border enforcement. imagine, marco rubio advancing such a policy on the road to 2016. it would transform the landscape. he would win the has panic vote, yes, win it. rush limbaugh who sees no reason at all to change anything in the republican view of the world is now playing defense on his own roll in the republican defeat. >> you believe they keep saying this is my fault. it's my fault. i'm driving everybody away. i'm driving the hispanics away, i'm driving like christmas away, people who believe in santa claus, single women, the vagina

crowd. it's all my fault. the analysis of the election. obama didn't win. i lost it. >> joining me now joy reid and lily gill valetta. joy, charles and i must have been watching the show thursday night because that's when i said that they have to figure out the way to lead the congressional republicans to some form of compromise with president obama on immigration on a dream act. something that most of the republicans can vote against it, but enough vote for it in each body so that it can be passed into law and they can get this thing off their doorstep. and joy, there's kruth hammer going beyond that and saying let's go for amnesty. this is a desperate party. but at least they are starting

to think in one real policy terms. >> absolutely. i think actually the slogan for the republican party in 2016 is going to be hey brown people. because they're trying to warm up to hispanics at this point. i understand at the operative level, at the level of a steve schmidt. they clearly understand they've got to find a way to move at least a percentage, at least 35% of latino voters back into the persuadable column. their base is hardened in the parts of the country where nothing changed. their guys that were eleked in the deep south were still there. they lost in some swing states like florida and illinois but in the deep parts of the country, their base listens to rush limbaugh. they're not evolving and house republicans are still afraid of being primaried and how they're going to sell that to scared

house republicans. >> i have to add something if i may. because a band-aid is not going to work. and adding gonzalez and per rez and juan and maria is not a sustainable solution. i hope what we're seeing as an olive branch is not just a token but we look at the strategic platform of what the party stands for so that it is truly friendly to us brown people. >> let's listen to what david frum said this morning. >> the conservativetor fellowship has been fleeced, exploited and lied to. mitt romney was twisted into pretzels. the people who put the cement shoes on his feet are now blaming him for sinking. >> there's former george w. bush speech writer saying that rush

limbaugh and the conservative entertainment complex put cement overshoes on the republican candidate. >> i think he's exactly right. here's the problem. you can't spend 30 years feeding your largely white base, this constant self victimization. they're taking your stuff. they're out to get you. they're on welfare, they are dead beats. you can't feed them that kind of anger and dystopian view of this country that's turning on you and then turn on a dime because you've got to get some brown people. you can't change course and expect the base to follow you. you've now empowered them. if you ask base republicans what really matters what election is the most important, they say 2010. they think they're in power and they're not going to cede power back to people they think are hacks to people who keep selling them moderates like mitt romney.

>> karen hughes writes a column, today she wrote one in communications from the election. she says if another republican man says anything about rape other than that it is a horrific violent crime, i want to personally cut out his tongue. the college-age daughters of many of my friends voted for obama because they were completely turned off by neanderthal comments like the suggestion of legitimate rape. >> you can stereotype or minimize the thinking of us women or minorities that we're single minded people and only care about one issue. it's about respect and having a strategy for outreach that comes from a broader conversation than just accusations or disrespect all together. we remember all these female comments. and what's unfortunate to know that maybe there are some great fiscal ideas that the republican party has, but even marco rubio

said it, they get diluted when all you think about is this is the party that wants to deport my grandma back home. >> let's listen to what john boehner said today about the work that his party has to do. >> it's clear that as a political party we've got some work to do. and i think the principles are our party are sound. we believe in individual responsibility. we believe in empowering our citizens. we believe in the american dream. and want that dream for everyone. but how we talk about who we are as a party is clearly conversations are underway and will continue. >> joy, i love that line. conversations are under way and will continue. you know, does that mean that our platform should continue to have no exception on abortion for rape and health of the mother and such things?

those conversations have to be very serious kwefgss. >> absolutely. what i've heard political operatives say all day today is there's nothing wrong with our ideology. we're not going to change one eye ota of our believe system. we need to have marco rubio saying our policies. we need it said better. i don't think that republicans have gotten to a place where they are willing to question and step back and look at their tone first of all. just using the word illegals which mitt romney did on univision. they don't understand their tone is off putting, but they think if they just make it sound nicer the underlying policies will be sellable. i don't think that's true. >> lily, i don't think anything david frum said today about the conservative entertainment complex makes the conservative entertainment complex any bit inhibited about continuing to urge their candidates in a white

wing direction. i think that factor is going to remain as something that acknowledge tats them that way. >> absolutely. and you know what? there's always going to be people pulling to either extreme and extremes are bad. we've heard that. it doesn't mean we're going to be in the middle moderates. that's not what we are saying. but what we are saying is let's face the new reality of a changing face of america that is becoming a majority minority and match the policies, the platforms and the outreach with the base, which in this case is the new face of the american people. and guess what? there is a bigger lesson here that we can learn, which is it applies to everyone who is making decisions in america, not just politicians. >> thank you both for joining me tonight. >> thanks lawrence. >> thank you. >> coming up. the people who were wrong, so very wrong about this election are in tonight's rewrite. and yes, gloating will be allowed. and later, the last word

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in tonight's rewrite, a look back at some people who have some serious rewriting to do. of themselves. here it is, your moment of gloat. >> our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny president obama a second term. >> making barack obama a one-term president. >> the people who are projecting a governor romney win are dick morris, michael barone, newt gingrich. >> i think romney will take florida, virginia, north carolina. >> i agree. >> i think romney gets 279 to 281 or 286.

>> i'm sticking with you. >> i agree with his analysis from the micro view. >> my personal guess is you'll see a romney land slide 53% plus in the elect yool, 30 on elect oral votes plus. >> all of my thinking says romney big. not even close. 300-plus electoral votes. >> 321 electoral votes. >> what was it in 321. >> to 217 in that scenario. >> that would be great. >> which would be a mandate. a giant, giant spanking. >> good evening, dick. what do you think? >> we're going to win by a land slide. >> president obama's most high profile supporters coming to terms. >> mitt romney is going to do well and i think he's going to hold his own and beyond. >> i'm telling you 35 days out

this cat is in good shape and whatever he's doing i think he should keep doing it. >> romney will win in a land slide. >> he will be 3 to 6 points ahead in iowa. >> let's see what the humans are saying. >> i don't know of a president in modern american history that's been able to survive his economic record. i think he's going to go down. >> he'll win the popular by .5 point. >> i'll take .5 point. i'm predicting three. >> democrats are more likely to vote. >> romney will win in a land slide. >> i think romney is going to win on tuesday. >> so you're pretty confident that he can pull out a win? >> very confident. >> i think romney is going to carry ohio. >> governor romney consistently leads among inds. >> this is is from polls. >> the republicans tend to be

somewhat underrepresented in the polls. >> too close to call. i'd put my money on romney. >> i think mitt romney is winning. i don't believe the polls, i don't believe the hacks. >> romney will win in a land slide. >> nothing will turn america around more than election night when barack obama loses decisively. new prilosec otc wildberry is the same frequent heartburn treatment as prilosec otc. now with a fancy coating that gives you a burst of wildberry flavor. now why make a flavored heartburn pill? because this is america. and we don't just make things you want, we make things you didn't even know you wanted. like a spoon fork. spray cheese. and jeans made out of sweatpants. so grab yourself some new prilosec otc wildberry. [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. satisfaction guaranteed or your money back.

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the last word tonight goes to the person who has earned it this election week and this election year. the person who has earned it in so many ways. the morning after the election

president obama visited his chicago campaign headquarters to thank his staff and volunteers. some of you may have heard some of what he said that morning. but you haven't heard it all. and you should. here now, the president of the united states with tonight's last word and the presidential campaign's last word. >> you guys. >> you know, i try to picture myself, when i was your age. and i first moved to chicago at the age of 25. and i had this inkling about making a difference. i didn't really know how to do it. i didn't have the structure. and there wasn't a presidential campaign at the time that i could attach myself to.

ronald reagan had just been re-elected and was incredibly popular. and so i came to chicago knowing that somehow i wanted to make sure that my life attached itself to helping kids get a great education. or helping people living in poverty to get decent jobs to be able to work and have dignity. to make sure that people didn't have to go to the emergency room to get health care. and i ended up being organizer on the south side of chicago, a group of churches were willing to hire me and i didn't know at all what i was doing. and you know, the work that i did in those communities changed

me much more than i changed the communities. because it taught me the hopes and aspirations and the grit and resilience of ordinary people. it told me that under the surfaces we all have common hopes and dreams and it taught me something about how i handle disappointment and what it meant to work hard on a common endeavor. and i grew up. i become a man during that process. and so when i come here and i look at all of you, what comes to mind is, it's not that you guys actually remind me of myself, it's the fact that you are so much better than i was. in so many ways. you're smarter and you're better organized. and you're more effective. and so i'm absolutely confident that all of you are going to do

just amazing things in your lives. and you know, what bobby kennedy called the ripples of hope that come out when you throw a stone in a lake, that's going to be you. i'm just looking around the room and i'm thinking, wherever you guys end up in whatever states or capacities the prophet sector or the not-for-profit or some of you decide to go into public service, you're just going to do great things. and that's why, even before last night's results, i felt that the work that i had done, in running for office, had come full circle. because what you guys have done means the work that i'm doing is important. and i'm really proud of that. i'm really proud of all of you.

and -- what you guys -- what you guys accomplished will go on in the annals of history and people will read about it and marvel about it, but the important thing to know is your journal is just beginning. you're just starting. whatever good we do over the next four years will pale in comparison to what you guys end up accomplishing for years and years to come. and that's been my source of hope. that's why during the last four years when people ask me about you know, how do you put up with this or that or the frustrations of washington, i just